Marketing Strategy Analysis - Development and Implementation

Questiuon: Discuss about the Marketing Strategy for Analysis, Development and Implementation. Answer: Introduction Corporations adopt a variety of strategies to enhance their core competency that provides it competitive advantage within the industry(Kotler, 2010). The scope of this essay is to analyze the competitive advantage enjoyed by Mercedes Benz and Toyota automobiles. Two relevant literature sources have been selected that highlights the competitive strategies utilized by the companies. The essay encompasses case analysis of Mercedes Benz by means of market segmentation and Porters Generic Strategies. Toyota Automobiles competitive strategy on the other hand has been explained using market segmentation and Porters Generic Strategy. Literature Source Mercedes Benz: Competitive strategies of Mercedes Benz has been obtained from Paquette, S (2011) journal on Customer Knowledge Management(Paquette, 2011). This article goes in depth regarding the various market segmentation and Porters differentiation generic strategy has been applied. Toyota Automobile: Toyota Automobiles competitive strategies has been extensively discussed in K. Amasaka (2009) article, The effectiveness of flyer advertising employing TMS: Key to scientific automobile sales innovation at Toyota. In The Academic Journal of China-USA Business Review,Volume 8(3), pages 1-12(Amasaka, 2009). The article covers extensively the various strategies adopted by Toyota to gain significant advantage in the market. Case Selection and Description In order to analyze and understand the competitive advantage enjoyed by companies, their marketing strategies and target market needs to be understood(Allen, 2007). Both case companies being automobile manufacturers differs widely in their approach towards marketing as they have different products catering to varied market segment. Case 1 Mercedes Benz: Mercedes Benz is a global automobile manufacturer based from Germany. The brand is well known for its luxury vehicles, coaches, buses and trucks production. The company was founded in 1926 with Karl Benz and Gottieb Daimler being its founding members. The company is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. The company is recognized as the worlds oldest car company and it is a part of parent company Daimler-Benz and Americas Chrysler. The companies merged to form the fifth largest car manufacturer that employs over 385,000 workers worldwide(Utrilla, 2012). The company has immense focus on quality and has a history of manufacturing unlimited speed limit automobiles. The essay analyses the luxury automobile manufacturing segment of the company which targets upper middle income groups with high taste in automobiles. The company adopts Porters generic strategies in order to establish differentiation based marketing in its target market. Case 2 Toyota Automobiles: Toyota Motor Corporation is a Japanese automotive manufacturer with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. The company is a manufacturer of automobiles, commercial vehicles, luxury vehicles and engines. The company was founded in 1937 by Kiichiro Toyoda. Toyota is considered as a major competitor at national as well as international levels. It is one of the most successful car manufacturers in the world. Apart from automobile manufacturing the company also has diversified business in industrial trucks, boat engines, prefabricated houses, financial services, IT, biotechnology, forestry and telecommunications(Barney, 2010). The company has a distribution channels across 140 countries and its key market now is based in North America. The luxury automobile of the company targets middle to upper income segment around the world. The company adopts Porters Generic Cost Leadership Strategy for its strategic growth by product development that has been analyzed in the essay. The company has extensive RD team that is focused in manufacturing automobiles(Hussain, 2013). Evidence of Sustained Competitive Advantage Competitive Strategies helps a company establish various marketing tactics in order to succeed in the market. Each company has their own competitive strategy which predisposes marketing strategies. Mercedes Benz corporate strategic goals are inherited from DaimlerChrylser in order to achieve high customer satisfaction. This renders it sustainable advantage for the company(Payne, 2008). With growing competition is the automobile industry there is a need to have effective marketing strategy for achievement of organizational goals. Porters Generic Strategy is based on three prominent and distinct strategies of cost leadership, focus and differentiation. The company adopts focus differentiation market strategy to outperform other companies in the market. It car design and features offer exclusive luxury cars and is promoted to appeal the taste buds of upper income segment group. With the strategic goal it is able to achieve superior customer experience and cater to the narrow buyer segment with minimum competition. Hence, the automobile manufacturer offers premium price for its luxury brand. The automobile make sports cars which are high in demand compared to other automobile brands(Baroto, 2012). It conducts its marketing approach by advertising with demonstration of quality. With premium car users being its target marketing segment, it makes extensive use of marketing intelligence for marketing. The company sponsors F1 races and similar events that increase company visibility. Employees at the company make a continuous struggle to demonstrate superior quality and it is world renowned for being leader in safety and high expenditure in RD. The company has won several awards for its safety features including airbags, electronic stability programs (ESP) and pre-tensioners. It is said to produce technologically most advanced cars in the world. Toyota Motors Corporation strategy is based on becoming the most efficient automobile manufacturer. The company aims to become the most efficient automobile manufacturer with highest productivity. The companys global success is based on it being the low and best cost provider for its valued products(Doole, 2008). The company develops and caters to products for the overall market; hence it has a broader market scope. It attracts broader customer segment by catering to effective cost provider strategy, providing customers value for their money. This helps the company to upscale differentiation. In the automobile segment that it caters to, its cars are considered on of the best as considered to the price at which it sells. The company makes extension use of its resource and capabilities in order to match customer expectations(ORiordan, 2006). Analysis and Explanation Two competitive strategies are discussed in the essay, one market segmentation and another is Porters Generic Strategy. Market Segmentation addresses segmentation of the market by geographic, psychographic and demographic segmentation. Both the companies attend to geographic segmentation as they are present world over. Customers of the company can purchase automobiles of the company from anywhere in the world. For demographic segmentation is attained by segmenting customers by age, income, gender. Age and gender is almost constant for both the companies while purchasing automobiles of the company. Income segmentations for both the company differ widely as Mercedes-Benz caters to upper income group and Toyota Motor Corporation attends to middle to upper income segment. Mercedes Benz automobiles are highly priced and they advertise on the basis of their quality. The focus differentiation amongst Porters Generic strategies is attended to by creating unique value proposition for customers. Each product of the company is a symbol of status and class hence is considered to be highly valued(Wright, 2013). There are very few automobile companies in this segment that competes with the company hence, it leads in its way with the strategy. Toyota Motor Corporation focuses on its resources and capabilities to create a distinct product and reasonable price. The income segment that the company caters to is middle class to upper middle segment. Due to production and process efficiency of the company, including Kaizan, JIT and lean manufacturing processes, it can easily accomplish efficiency. The resource capability of the company allows it to produce standard quality automobiles at low cost, which appeals to wider market category. It is able to attend to its customer demands by promoting the company products as leading automobiles in price band range(Haq, 2008). Thus, it leads the world in its manufacturing of automobiles. Conclusion Competitive strategies help companies to excel and lead in their market, thus each company designs their own unique strategy by use of marketing intelligence. Marketing intelligence makes use of relevant data from the market as customer demographics, segmentation and competitors strategy to develop their own applicable plans. Mercedes Benz and Toyota Motor Corporation both operate in the automobile segment but have separate marketing strategy. One bases target market as customers who purchase luxury automobiles. Whereas the other company manufacturers cost effective automobiles. Each of the company excels in their own market segment and generates immense profits as well as revenues for the companies. Both companies are heavily invested in their RD but one to enhance their quality whereas the other to enhance process efficiency. Each company are leaders in their market segment by being able to cater to the customer segment effectively. References Allen, R.S., Helms, M.M., Takeda, M.B. and White, C.S., 2007. Porter's generic strategies: an exploratory study of their use in Japan.Journal of Business Strategies,24(1), p.69. Amasaka, K., 2009. The effectiveness of flyer advertising employing TMS: Key to scientific automobile sales innovation at Toyota.The Academic Journal of China-USA Business Review,8(3), pp.1-12. Baroto, M.B., Abdullah, M.M.B. and Wan, H.L., 2012. Hybrid strategy: A new strategy for competitive advantage.International Journal of Business and Management,7(20), p.120. Barney, J.B. and Hesterly, W.S., 2010. VRIO Framework, Strategic Management and Competitive Advantage. 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